Leafs

Even though this past week was still in the prime of time for us bowhunters, I didn't hunt much, as I had a lot to do. What could possibly be more important than hunting? Believe it or not, those things do exist.

The thought that I should be out in the woods was definitely on my mind, as this was November, the time of year when love-sick bucks run everywhere at all times of the day. Now there is scientific evidence that deer move more at specific times of the day and on specific days, based on where the moon is. That time varies each day and is different from year to year. If you know anything about the full moon, new moon etc, this makes sense to you. 

I definitely believe in that line of thinking, but struggle with knowing whether or not the moon is in apogee or perigee. During early November, I just hunt every chance that I can. No offense to the moon people, but November 9 has always been a good day for me regardless of where the moon was. If I could only hunt one day out of the year, it would be Nov 9. If that doesn't pan out, then I try to hunt the rest as well.

 Well, as I said, the thought was on my mind that I should get to the woods. I had glass that needed to be made and my kid’s deer to butcher from youth season. I also saw that there were lots of leaves in the yard that needed to be raked. I know that if I keep doing at least some work during hunting season it stays manageable. If I keep putting it off, all I can think about while hunting is the work that I should be doing. I start to feel guilty and then hunting isn't as enjoyable. With all of that in mind, I worked in the glass shop and butchered the deer.

Any time that I had a chance, I would pick up the rake and rake some leaves. Wait a minute! As I was working, I was thinking about a conversation earlier in the week. 

One of the guys I work with bought a sweet looking model 94 Winchester lever action. It had the saddle ring and the whole bit. Around here,we say lever action with the e sounding like we, you know the double ee sound. I'm pretty sure that's how John Wayne said it. Another guy we work with insisted that we were saying it wrong. According to Webster's dictionary it should be a short e sound. I'm not sure who this Wilbur Webster guy or whatever his name is anyways. I doubt if he ever even hunted. I never was the brightest English student, but I always get a chuckle when someone thinks they get it right and no one else knows how to talk. Or maybe we should say, "they speak correctly". I had an uncle named Edgar who is no longer with us. He used to love to ask the question, "Which is correct, egg yolks is white, or egg yolks are white?" The majority of people would get it wrong. Edgar would get a good chuckle out of it, especially if it was a teacher.

I have another uncle named Don. We pronounce his name the same way that you say the early morning dawn. He has a daughter named Dawn. Probably to keep the two separate, those of us that grew up with her, pronounced her name like the word on with a d in front of it. D on all slid together into one word. I guess the important thing was that they knew who we were talking to. And then there are all of those people with accents. Thankfully it's only the people that aren’t from around here that have accents. Try to figure that out.

I've always struggled with saying what I mean. And then when I do find the right words, I say them in the wrong way. Sometimes I think that Mr Webster has too many rules for me. 

Maybe I'll just get back to raking leafs.